Extra travel insurance when bush walking

[Lyn]

I am going on an organised Larapinta trek. The company advises extra travel insurance. I have full hospital and ambulance cover in Australia. If I am not concerned about luggage etc, do I need extra coverage?

[bumpingbill]

Are you an Australian resident?

[Lyn]

Yes. I am an Australian citizen.

[Mark F]

Many travel companies like customers to take out travel insurance in case of cancellation, delays, loss of luggage etc as it removes a source of potential aggravation for THEM. As an Australian resident will to accept those risks you shouldn't need the additional insurance. If travelling os then things change and insurance is likely to be warranted.

[Lyn]

Does anyone know whether air evacuation along Larapinta is ever necessary and, if so, is it a private company that flies in?
Lyn

[Mark F]

Rescue in Australia is free through normal Government channels. Your health insurance covers any ambulance portion of a rescue (but check the conditions on the policy just to be absolutely sure)

[GPSGuided]

Hellcopter evacuation for emergencies are free in Australia but not sure for air ambulances. These days, road ambulances aren't free so I have concerns for air ambulances too. You should check with your private health insurance fund or take up a policy with the ambulance service for cost coverage.

Otherwise extending this thread, I looked into travel insurance for a recent o/s trip and note that hiking was grouped with the various high risk sports and were excluded by the insurance policy for coverage. That was through AMEX. Looking at 1Cover, which is the other provider I often use, hiking is ok as long as it does not include gear based rock climbing and mountaineering. An area requiring some attention if one wants to pursue these activities overseas.

[clance]

Hellcopter evacuation for emergencies are free in Australia but not sure for air ambulances. These days, road ambulances aren't free so I have concerns for air ambulances too. You should check with your private health insurance fund or take up a policy with the ambulance service for cost coverage.

Otherwise extending this thread, I looked into travel insurance for a recent o/s trip and note that hiking was grouped with the various high risk sports and were excluded by the insurance policy for coverage. That was through AMEX. Looking at 1Cover, which is the other provider I often use, hiking is ok as long as it does not include gear based rock climbing and mountaineering. An area requiring some attention if one wants to pursue these activities overseas.

Good to know, cheers

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[walkerchris77]

My health fund (bupa) ambo cover only covers lift threatening injuries. If i break a leg and its not lift threatening id have to pay. So i also have ambulance cover which covers everything including air ambulance.

[Mark F]

Rescue is essentially locating and moving a person/s to a place of safety and support. With many helicopter rescues it may be to a hospital depending on the nature and severity of injuries. At other times it may be to the base camp set up to coordinate a search or rescue with road transport from the camp for minor injuries/medical observation being considered an ambulance matter. Not all rescues are by helicopter, they are now common because of time factors and they make better use of medical and rescue personnel.

The constant dilemma in these discussions is the unclear point where rescue ends and ambulance transport begins. I suspect the authorities in each state have some sort of protocol but I have never heard of it but never really tried to find out. It would be useful to everybody to know where this point is. Any s&r people out there who can shed light on this issue?

[GPSGuided]

For a good portion of bush misadventures, the initial helivac will most likely be to a regional or base hospital for stabilisation, then there'll be ambo transport to a tertiary centre if the injury is severe. Even in the Sydney region, significant spinal injury may eventually take the injured to Royal North Shore. The subsequent transfer (typically delayed) will cost you.

[north-north-west]

This sort of thing varies from state to state. In Victoria, ambulance subscription is quite cheap and covers you for all transport. In Tassie, ambulance transport is free (tot he best of my knowledge).